#29 – Knowing God Better – John 18 (continued)

Ok, today we’ll begin with a quick history lesson.

Jerusalem, in Israel, is where Jesus was on trial. In Jesus’ time, though most of the residents were Jews, the Roman government was in control.

The Jews did have judges over their own religious laws. But in this case, they brought Jesus to the Roman government. In a minute you’ll see why.

Pilate was the Roman “curator” (the governor) in charge.

We see Pilate, scratching his head, trying to figure out what crime Jesus has committed:

35 “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”

Q – Why did the Jews bring Jesus to the Romans, rather than deal with Jesus themselves? (see verses below)
A –

29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?”
30 “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.
31 “Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them.
“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied.
32 (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.)

So, you get that the Jews wanted Jesus killed. They wanted him gone.

Pilate tried to persuade the crowd to let Jesus go. But first, he tried to appease the crowd, by torturing Jesus some. (John 19):

1 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

The whip was called a “cat-o-nine-tails.” It had metal or bone-tipped ends on 9 straps of leather. Usually they limited the whipping to 40 times, which was enough to cut down to the person’s bones.

After Jesus’ beating, Pilate then tries to release Jesus:

4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.”

Q – Looking at the verses below, what was the single reason the Jews wanted Jesus killed?
A –

6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”
7 The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

To the Jews, they had only two choices: believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be, or charge him with blasphemy, punishable by death.

Today, we are presented with the same question. There is no middle ground. We either believe Jesus is equal to God, as he claimed, or believe he was lying or insane.

(Here is an article which discusses these possibilities, and why Jesus willing went to the cross for us:
www.everystudent.com/features/is-jesus-god.html)

Jesus didn’t ask us to decide about his teachings. He asks us to decide about his identity.

Next, we’ll finish up John 19, where John gives us his report of Jesus’ crucifixion.

If you have any questions, remember you can always email your question here: www.everystudent.com/contact.php

Sincerely,

Marilyn Adamson
director of EveryStudent.com
and StartingwithGod.com